AGO to become the “KGO” — for kids — on Family Day
February 12, 2012
Kristin Rushowy
EDUCATION REPORTER
If you are looking for the AGO on Family Day, you won’t find it.
Instead, you’ll see the “KGO” — as the Art Gallery of Ontario and Bunch Family host a day of creativity for children and their parents at the temporarily renamed “Kids Gallery of Ontario.”
(Signs, including the big red AGO near the entrance, will be “creatively reworked” for the day to say KGO.)
“We were trying to come up with an unusual Family Day idea for the AGO that really spoke to what they are trying to do, to make it clear that the gallery is open to kids and families,” said Rebecca Brown, creative Director of Bunch Family Inc., a programming and events agency.
Children will have a chance to paint, sculpt and work on installation art with AGO Gallery School instructors, take part in flash mobs, or just dance. There will also be visits from doppelgangers for artists such as Andy Warhol, or Pablo Picasso.
The kids’ work will be displayed as part of a “Kid Nouveau” exhibition, said Brown.
“This is a terrific opportunity for entire families to come and play, create, and engage with art in our recently opened Weston Family Learning Centre,” said Kelly McKinley, the AGO’s executive director of education and public programming, in a written release.
Hands-on activities will be based in the Weston centre, a 35,000 square-foot learning space which opened last October and has since hosted numerous schools and community groups.
Mini-tours of the gallery will also be available throughout the day to kid-friendly sites, including a collection of ship models like those children will have seen in the Tintin adventures.
The “KGO” officially opens at 10 a.m. on Monday Feb. 20 and ends at 4 p.m. Family passes will be offered at the discounted rate of $39, which cover two adults and up to five children ages 6 to 17 (children 5 years and younger are free).